US History/Contents/W Bush
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George W. Bush, September 11, 2nd Gulf War, and Terrorism (2001-2006)
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2000 Election
As Clinton's presidency came to a close, Democrats faced a challenge. The Monica Lewinsky scandal had damaged the trust of many in the Democratic party. They chose Al Gore, Clinton's vice president, as their nominee, and the Republicans chose George W. Bush, the governor of Texas and son of George H.W. Bush. Gore beat former Senator Bill Bradley (NJ), and Bush beat Sen. John McCain (AZ), former ambassador and perennial candidate Alan Keyes, former Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole, and several others. Even with the scandal still fresh in the minds of Americans, the race was very close, and one state would decide the entire election.
Throughout the last decade of the millennium, Florida had traditionally been a Democratic-leaning state, although not solidly Democratic (like, for example, California or New York). However, explosive population growth in the late nineties had brought many social and economic conservative Cubans to the South Florida area, the Democratic stronghold. The growth had left Florida very evenly split among the parties.
On election night, the news media outlets first predicted Florida to go to Gore just before 8 pm EST, then to Bush around 2 am EST, and then decided that the race was too close to call in the early morning hours. Florida law provided for an automatic recount when votes differ by such a small margin, and when Florida decided that Bush had won, Democrats cried foul, and Gore sued Bush accordingly, forcing further recounts in several Florida counties. Bush counter-sued, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In a 5-4 decision, the court decided that the state of Florida must recount all the ballots in all the Florida counties and not just those in disproportionately Democratic counties, in accordance with the equal protection clause afforded by the U.S. Constitution. As Florida was required to certify its election (by the Florida Constitution) within days of the court's decision, there was not enough time to recount the entire state, and thus the final state count stood. In the end, Bush won Florida by 537 votes. In the aftermath of the election, charges of voter fraud, intimidation, and manipulation were raised, although never legally proven. Even though Bush won Florida, and as a result received 271 electoral votes to Gore's 267, and the presidency, he lost the popular vote. After more than five weeks and much scrutiny on the state of Florida, the 2000 election had finally been decided.
George Walker Bush
Following the election in November 2000, George Walker Bush, the son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush, was inaugurated President of the United States. His first term would be filled with a great deal of controversy.
9/11 and its Aftermath
Less than a year later, on September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airline jets. Two of the aircraft were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York, which resulted in their collapse and the deaths of thousands of occupants and rescuers. Another was flown into the Pentagon, the U.S. military headquarters in Washington, D.C. The fourth airliner crashed in Pennsylvania as a result of resistance by the passengers. Its intended target is believed to have been the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Approximately 3000 people died in the attacks. This event eventually became known as "9/11".
Responsibility for the attacks was soon attached to Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Quaeda, an Islamic terrorist group with training camps in Afghanistan. Bin Laden's exact grievances have been debated, but include US military presence in major Islamic nations and US support of Israel. There had been many smaller terrorist attacks aimed towards Americans by al-Quaeda before 2001, including the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Following the September 11th attacks, there was a major scare when anthrax, a deadly bacteria if inhaled or ingested, was snuck into the mail system. It was manufactured in powdered spores, making it easy to use as a biological weapon. Five people died as a result of the attacks. At the height of the scare, the House of Representatives adjourned because of the threat of anthrax in the Capitol building itself. The attacks ended by the end of the year, and no one was charged of orchestrating them.
The attacks, while devastating and deadly, abruptly ended the period of sharp division after the 2000 election. Over the next year, America experienced a period of unprecedented political unity among the public and elected officials alike. Americans more readily expressed pride in their country and rallied to counter the terror instilled by the attacks. George Bush received praise from across the political spectrum for his leadership following the attacks and his swift invasion of Afghanistan.
The attacks also shook the worldwide economy. Stocks tumbled when the New York Stock Exchange reopened the week following the attacks. The travel industry also declined because fewer Americans wanted to fly (due to the nature of the 9/11 attacks). Many airlines went bankrupt. A recession, following the economic boom during Bill Clinton's second term, was exacerbated by the attacks.
The War on Terror
Directly following the September 11th attacks, Congress drafted and overwhelmingly passed the USA PATRIOT Act and the president signed it into law on October 26, 2001. The law, while forcing citizens to forfeit some rights, strengthened the government's ability to gather information and convict suspected terrorists. Hundreds of accused terrorists have been charged and approximately half have been convicted. However, there have also been reports of abuse of the law, and it went under reexamination by Congress in 2005.
Also following the attacks, the United States declared a symbolic war on terrorism. The first target in the war was Afghanistan, where the Taliban government was supposedly hiding Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. After the U.S. government demanded that the Taliban turn Bin Laden over and their refusal to comply, U.S. and British forces began bombing strategic Taliban centers, on October 7. The invasion was swift, and major fighting had ended by the middle of 2002. The Taliban government had been eliminated, and the Afghanis soon participated in their first democratic processes in many years.
In his January 2002 State of the Union address, with the worldwide spotlight on national security and war, George Bush named the countries of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as a part of the "Axis of Evil," a phrase he partially coined from the World War II Axis Powers. President Bush specifically named these three countries because they were all described as rogue states, either fostering terrorists or trying to obtain arms. Iraq was named because its dictator, Saddam Hussein, was widely believed to be pursuing weapons of mass destruction. Iran was believed to be preparing to create nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorists. North Korea, under its dictator Kim Jong-il, had been pursuing nuclear weapons since the mid-90s.
The successful invasion of Afghanistan was the first time that the newly adopted Bush Doctrine had been carried out. At first, the Bush Doctrine stated that there was no difference between a terrorist and one who fosters a terrorist. Bush added to his new doctrine in a June 1, 2002 speech to the West Point graduating class, where he stated that the U.S. would practice pre-emptive strikes (that is, the practice of attacking enemy states before they attack the U.S.) He also stated that America would act alone (without the help of allies) if it needed to, and that the U.S. would continue to remain far above the rest of the world in terms of military power. Finally, he said that it was the United States' duty to spread freedom and democracy to the rest of the world.
War in Iraq
In the middle of 2002, the United Nations began focusing its attention on Iraq, the number one member of Bush's axis of evil. American and international intelligence agencies had considerable intelligence indicating that Iraq possessed a great number of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) as well as the ongoing capacity to produce them. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1441, requiring Iraq to open up to weapons inspectors or else face "serious consequences." Two of the veto-wielding members (France and Russia) of the Security Council did not wish to use military force against Iraq, and promised to veto any resolution ordering such force. It was argued by some that those nations had ulterior motives for this, such as oil contracts with Iraq.
As a result to a perceived security threat verified by intelligence that has now been found to have been unreliable, President Bush and a number of allies, deemed by the President as the "coalition of the willing," began the invasion without UN sanction. On the night of March 17, 2003, President Bush gave Hussein and his two sons, Uday and Qusay, an ultimatum to leave Iraq in 48 hours or force America to invade. They refused. After the expiration of the deadline given by the President, explosions were heard in Baghdad, the capitol of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq had begun. The invasion lasted only a short time, and the Iraqi government and military collapsed within three weeks.
During the invasion, Hussein was unable to be located. After months of searching, Hussein was finally captured on December 13. Weapons of Mass Destruction were never located in Iraq, and the intelligence indicating that such weapons would be found has been proven faulty. Continued suicide bombings and the ongoing American casualties led to a steady decline in American popular support for the war.
The invasion of Iraq is considered by many to mark the end of the political unity following the September 11th attacks. Although both the public and Congress favored going to war by sometimes overwhelming majorities, a substantial minority expressed reservations about invading. Many feared that the administration lacked a plan for rebuilding once the war was over. Still others worried that an invasion would alienate (mostly European) U.S. allies. The Vatican eventually came out against the war. On February 15, just one month before the invasion commenced, millions protested worldwide, including thousands in 150 U.S. cities.
Gay Marriage
Another key issue at the end of Bush's first term was the issue of same-sex marriage. On November 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the banning of gay marriage is unconstitutional, thereby allowing gay marriage in that state. Following the Massachusetts ruling, California, Vermont, Maine, Hawaii, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and most recently Connecticut allow for same-sex civil unions, reciprocal benefits, or domestic partnerships (all of which are similar to marriage, besides the fact that they go by a different name). Conservatives were dismayed by the same-sex movement, and in February of 2004, President Bush called for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The Senate looked into the issue, but only a minority supported the provision, while a two thirds majority is needed to pass an amendment in Congress.
The civil rights, same-sex movement took a major hit on Election day, when seven states (Georgia, Arkansas, Michigan, North Dakota, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Utah) made it unconstitutional for marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships between same-sex couples. Three more (Oregon, Mississippi, and Montana) made it illegal only for homosexuals to marry, and one more (Ohio) passed an amendment illegalizing any benefits whatsoever for homosexual couples. This was all in addition to a few previous bans by constitution and many by state law in all of the states except those that allow marriage or union and Rhode Island, New York, and New Mexico.
2004 Election
Being enormously popular with his own party, Bush won renomination by the Republicans in the 2004 election unopposed. Much to the contrary, ten Democrats sought their party's nomination. Retiring Senator Bob Graham of Florida never built up a following in the polls and dropped out in August, 2003. Former Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois (the first African-American woman to serve in the Senate) dropped out the night before the Iowa Caucus. The primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination started on the 19th of January, 2004 with the Iowa caucus. Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont for more than a decade led in most media polls and garnered a decisive win in the symbolic Washington D.C. primary. A flurry of negative campaigning between the two top candidates for the nomination just before Iowa caused embarrassing losses for Dean and Richard Gephardt, the former House Minority Leader. Massachusetts senator John F. Kerry, whose campaign was declared dead by some commentators only a few weeks earlier, won the caucus. Senator Joe Lieberman and General Wesley Clark decided to skip Iowa. Arguably, Dean never recovered from the media obsession with some of his controversial statements. As a result, in the end, Dean won only the primary in his home state, Vermont. Dick Gephardt, of Missouri, dropped out after a disappointing fourth place. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, whose campaign had cash but never any traction, picked up a surprise strong second.
The momentum from Iowa propelled Kerry to immediately overtake Dean's lead in New Hampshire and to win a big victory there one week later. Kerry further cemented his position as front-runner by taking home most of the prizes in the "Mini Tuesday" slew of primaries one week later. Joe Lieberman quit after failing to win a single state. After decisively winning Super Tuesday on March 2, Kerry's last surviving rival, John Edwards, stepped aside; however, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) continued to win a few delegates and Dean remained on certain ballots. At the Democratic Convention in July all the other candidates, save Dennis Kucinich, arguably the most liberal of the candidates, released their delegates to Kerry. As a result, Kerry became the Democratic nominee for President.
Kerry chose North Carolina Senator John Edwards, ostensibly the Democratic candidate who received second place in terms of delegates, as his running mate. Kerry was recognized as a liberal Senator - he openly supported gay rights and same sex civil unions, was pro-choice and supported embryonic stem cell research, and opposed drilling in Alaska for oil. The Bush campaign targeted Kerry as a "flip-flopper," a term coined by the campaign to indicate that the Senator from Massachusetts changed his position constantly. The flip-flopping label was directed particularly toward Kerry's positions on the war in Iraq. In regard to a bill that passed the United States Senate providing $87 billion in funding to the war, Senator Kerry made the remark that "I actually voted for the eighty-seven billion - before I voted against it." The Bush campaign took advantage of this remark and used it as the epicenter of their flip-flopping campaign against the Senator.
Polling had indicated the election would be very close. This proved relatively true on Election Day. Bush was able to widen his margin of victory in Florida this time around. The results from this election were far more decisive than in 2000. In the popular vote Bush won 51%, Kerry won 48%, and Nader (this time running as an independent supported by the Reform party) saw his support collapse. The final electoral vote total was 286 for Bush and 252 for Kerry.
Additionally, Republicans strengthened their hold in both houses of Congress, particularly increasing their majority in the Senate to 55-44. The strengthening of the control of the Senate would be important to the Republicans in the following year.
The Start of a New Term
Social Security
Created in 1935, Social Security OASDI is a government program that has so far provided most seniors with a steady income based on the real value of their prior earnings. It is funded by a 6.2 percent tax on each workers' pay and and on each employers' payrolls. Surpluses are held in Treasury securities in special Trust Funds which are credited with interest.
The cumulative surplus is projected by government actuaries to peak around 2018 or 2019 and then to decline until the Trust Funds are exhausted in sometime between 2042 and 2052. There is a huge component of farce in this system in that the government has already spent the money represented by the bonds, but counts the current year's surplus of more than $100 billion as a partial offset to the government's cash deficit. Paying the Trust Funds for their bonds will require cash from government taxes which never seems to be available.
In the latter part of his first term and in his 2004 campaign, Bush focused on the issue of Social Security, and how to prevent its bankruptcy. He proposed a plan (which went nowhere and will not be considered in the 110th congress.) to have young workers set up stock funds (like 401k's) which might turn out to produce better retirement benefits thsn OASDI but would have done nothing to solve the system deficits. Many experts expect that the only long-term solution is a tax increase of about 2 percent of payroll, or a government subsidy of the same size. No one expects congress to tackle the problem until matters become threatening in about a decade.
Cabinet Replacements
At the start of his second term, Bush's cabinet saw significant changes. Colin Powell departed as Secretary of State, replaced by National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, the first African American female to hold the position. Stephen Hadley now occupied Rice's former position. Alberto Gonzales replaced John Ashcroft as attorney general the first Mexican American to hold this post. Tom Ridge former Governor and Vietnam War Hero also resigned from the post of Secretary of Homeland Security. Michael Chertoff, a Justice Department official, took his place.
The Double Vacancy on the Supreme Court
In October, 2004, William H. Rehnquist was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. As he battled thyroid cancer for the next few months, many people began to anticipate that he would soon retire from the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. However, by the end of that session, he had not announced his retirement, and in July, 2005, he informed the press that he would remain on the Court as long as his health permitted.
Despite all expectations, Sandra Day O'Connor ended up being the first member of the Court to retire. Special-interest groups that had been preparing for a fight over who should replace Rehnquist, liberal and conservative alike, found themselves having to engage in a much more crucial battle. Prior to O'Connor's retirement, the Court had consisted of two staunch conservatives (Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas), one moderate conservative (Rehnquist), one moderate liberal (Anthony Kennedy), four staunch liberals (John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer), and O'Connor, who was the Court's only true centrist. In many cases relating to restrictions on abortion, affirmative action, and detention of unlawful combatants, O'Connor had been the deciding vote. Liberals feared that the replacement of O'Connor with a conservative would cause the Supreme Court to begin disregarding human rights. Conservatives realized that the replacement of O'Connor with a conservative would leave conservatives only one vote away from a majority on the Court.
John Roberts
On July 19, President Bush nominated John Roberts, a judge serving on the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to fill the vacancy created by O'Connor. Liberals were for the most part against the Roberts nomination, claiming that he would be far to the right of O'Connor. Conservatives had mixed reactions. Some conservatives thought that Roberts was just what they wanted. Others, however, did not approve of the nomination. Their disapproval was primarily based on a quote he had made to the Senate Judiciary Committee two years before, in which he said, "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land… There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent, as well as Casey." Supporters argued that this quote was made when he was nominated as a Circuit Court judge, and that therefore, he had no authority to overturn Roe, but that he would attempt to overturn it if he were appointed to the Supreme Court.
On September 3, 2005, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died of complications from thyroid cancer. This created a double vacancy. On September 6, President Bush withdrew the nomination of Roberts to the office of Associate Justice and instead nominated him to be Chief Justice. The Senate Judiciary Committee began holding hearings for John Roberts on September 12. On September 22, the Committee voted 13-5 to approve the Roberts nomination.
On September 29, 2005, the Senate confirmed the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court by a vote of 78-22. Hours later, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens swore him in as the seventeenth Chief Justice of the United States.
Harriet Miers
Having successfully nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court, Bush now turned his attention back to filling O'Connor's vacancy. He spent the weekend considering who to nominate. On October 3, 2005, he chose the White House Counsel, Harriet Miers.
The Miers nomination was very controversial from the first. Both the Republicans and Democrats criticized the nomination. Many liberals accused Bush of cronyism. Bush's conservative base was divided over Miers. Some conservatives supported Miers, believing that since Bush knew Miers in person, he knew what kind of judge she would be better than they did. Others, however, were afraid that Miers would turn out to be a moderate or liberal and felt betrayed by Bush. All opponents of Miers argued that she had no judicial experience.
Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination on October 27, 2005, after weeks of criticism. President Bush spent the following weekend trying to decide who he should nominate next. On the moring of October 31, 2005, President Bush announced the nomination of a circuit court judge named Samuel Alito.
Samuel Alito
Conservatives were quick to applaud President Bush for nominating Alito to the Court, and liberals were quick to oppose the new nomination. Conservatives saw in him a competent judge who would develop a truly conservative reputation on the Court and oppose Roe v. Wade. Unlike with the Miers nomination, Bush's conservative base was mostly in support of the Alito nomination.
President Bush was hoping Alito would be confirmed by the Senate before Christmas. However, Senator Arlen Specter, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, scheduled the confirmation hearings for January 9-13, 2006. The hearings began and ended on schedule. Several major issues that were raised during the hearings were his past membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, his failure to recuse himself from cases involving a low-cost mutual fund corporation called the Vanguard Group, and his views on Executive power. Arlen Specter intended for the Committee to vote on the nomination on January 16, but on that day, he announced that he was postponing the vote, which was now to occur on January 24. On January 24, 2006, the nomination of Samuel Alito was approved by the Committee, and the Senate debates began the next day.
On January 31, 2006, Samuel Alito was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 58-42. Thereafter, Sandra Day O'Connor officially retired. Samuel Alito was sworn in as the 110th Associate Justice hours later. The next day, he was ceremonially sworn in.
Souring Public Mood
A confluence of events, beginning at the end of 2005, began to turn public opinion against the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled congress, and, as many argue, toward the opposition Democrats in the 2006 election year.
Hurricane Katrina
The summer of 2005 saw a very active hurricane season, with a total of five hurricanes striking the Gulf Coast. Of these, on August 29, Hurricane Katrina, struck New Orleans as a strong, 'category three' hurricane, breached the levees on Lake Pontchartrain, flooding the city, devastated the surrounding coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and to a lesser extent, the already struck Florida panhandle (it also struck South Florida, but the effects were far less than those seen in the Gulf). The catastrophic flooding and subsequent responses from all levels of the government highlighted many far reaching deficiencies in the government's ability to protect the country in times of disaster.
Mistakes at the state and local levels were made primarily before the storm. The most glaring mistake made by the state of Louisiana was its issuance of evacuation orders, but no provision of transportation for the estimated 120,000 poor, elderly, and sick unable to leave the inner city. After the storm struck, governor Kathleen Blanco's (of Louisiana) alleged refusal to give control of the state's National guard troops to the President caused the rampant looting crisis in the city to be firmly her responsibility. She did not commit herself to fighting the looting in the city until September 2, nearly five days after landfall.
But by far, most criticism was directed towards the federal response and the Bush Administration. The American people, aided by angry criticism from the news media, perceived the response as proof that America was woefully unprepared for another disaster, even after the governmental reforms following 9/11. President Bush did not survey the disaster area until August 31, and was criticized by the media for treating the disaster too casually. President Bush is famously quoted as saying "Brownie, you're doing one heck of a job." This was the same day that Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the man he was referring to, told reporters that he and the federal government were unaware of the horrific conditions in the Louisiana Superdome (the primary shelter for those unable to evacuate), even though the news media had been reporting on them for days.
The result of the storm was a realization by the American people that disaster relief agencies were unprepared for what they were created to do. President Bush's approval dropped to its lowest point during his entire presidency, and he was accused of cronyism for hiring unqualified officials to the Department of Homeland Security. Congressional hearings to investigate the matter were to commence in the coming months.
Growing Scandal
In addition to complaints of cronyism, a multitude of scandals were brewing in Washington. The CIA Leak scandal ("Plamegate") involved pre-Iraq War intelligence. Joseph C. Wilson, a former diplomat to African countries in previous decades, was recommended by his wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame, to investigate claims that Iraq was buying uranium from Niger. He alleges that he found no connection between the two countries, but President Bush said in his January 2003 State of the Union Address that "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." That summer, Wilson wrote a column in the New York Times that was highly critical of this remark, and told reporters in several anonymous interviews that the Bush administration was misrepresenting intelligence. A few days after Wilson's column was published, the Washington Post published a column in its paper revealing the identity of the undercover Valerie Plame, thus ruining her career as an agent. Wilson claimed that high officials, namely Karl Rove, the President's chief of staff and a top Republican strategist, leaked her identity to the paper for "retribution" for Wilson's dissent.
Eventually, an investigation into the matter was opened up. It is illegal for high officials, elected or not, to leak classified information without going through a declassification process. A special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald of Illinois, was appointed to head the investigation. In 2005, he indicted Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, for perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation. Later, Libby testified that he was authorized by White House "superiors" to leak classified info regarding prewar intelligence. The investigation remained ongoing, and many speculated that Fitzgerald was aiming to indict a higher official for the actual investigated offense, leaking Plame's identity, rather than lying to investigators.
Meanwhile, investigations regarding lobbying and political corruption in Congress were ongoing. Jack Abramoff, a top Republican lobbyist, pleaded guilty in early 2006 to three felony charges related to his defrauding of his Native American tribe lobbying clients and tax evasion. He consented to enter a plea bargain in which he agreed to testify in related Congressional corruption investigations in return for a lesser sentence.
Late in 2005, the House Republican leader, Tom Delay, was indicted for conspiracy to violate election law, money laundering, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Because of the indictments, Republican house rules forced Delay to temporarily step down as majority leader. A judge threw out the election law violations, but upheld the other charges, causing the rest of Delay's caucus to successfully pressure him to permanently step down as majority leader. Eventually, Delay's heavy association with a litany of scandals forced him to resign from the House in order for his party to retain his congressional seat.
Dubai Ports Controversy
In February 2006, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), a private British firm specializing in running seaports, agreed to sell itself to Dubai Ports World (DPW, a similar company state-owned by Dubai. P&O ran seaport terminals in in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Baltimore and other major ports. When Democrat Chuck Schumer announced the deal, the news media quickly picked up the story and controversy erupted. Critics of the deal pointed to the fact that, although P&O was also foreign-owned, DPW was a state-owned company run by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Congressional Democrats vehemently opposed handing the control of ports to a government suspected of funding the terrorists that attacked on 9/11, and many congressional Republican leaders also openly questioned the deal and called on President Bush to intervene.
At first, President Bush strongly opposed intervening, and congress's plans to pass regulations on the deal prompted a veto threat. Bush's perceived stubbornness concerning the deal, in addition to a gas price spike and violence coupled with a high profile bombing in Iraq, sunk his approval rating to another all-time low.
Eventually, congress did pass some blocks to the deal. This prompted DPW to announce that it would be selling off its U.S. port operations to an American company or companies as part of the deal to buy P&O. By the conclusion of the controversy, Americans had lost confidence in the President to deal with issues of national security. Democrats seemed poised to take advantage of the President's new weakness in the upcoming congressional elections.
Many more scandals took place during this period, big and small, including the Dick Cheney hunting incident, the scandal surrounding Mark Foley, increasing tension with North Korea and Iran.
2006 Midterm Elections
The Democrats won back the House and the Senate. This mid-term election is notable for the fact that no incumbent Democrat vying for a national congressional position was voted from office. A summary of the 2006 election results copied from the Wikipedia United States House of Representatives and the US Senate entries is reproduced here:
| Party | Seats | Popular Vote | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2006 | +/− | % | Vote | % | +/− | ||
| Democratic Party | 202 | 233 | +31 | 53.6% | 39,673,226 | 52.0% | +5.4% | |
| Republican Party | 232 | 202 | −30 | 46.4% | 34,748,277 | 45.6% | –3.6% | |
| Independents | 1 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 501,632 | 0.7% | +0.1% | |
| Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,305,803 | 1.7% | –1.9% | |
| Total | 435 | 435 | 0 | 100.0% | 76,228,938 | 100.0% | 0 | |
| view, talk, edit | ||||||||
Special case: FL-13 (FL certified the Republican the winner, but this election is being disputed in court and congress.)
| Party | Breakdown | Total Seats | Popular Vote | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up | Elected | Not Up | 2004 | 2006 | +/− | Vote | % | ||
| Democratic Party | 17 | 22 | 27 | 44 | 49 | +5 | 33,134,651 | 53.8% | |
| Republican Party | 15 | 9 | 40 | 55 | 49 | −6 | 26,127,486 | 42.4% | |
| Independents | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 878,486 | 1.4% | |
| Libertarian Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 600,991 | 1.0% | |
| Green Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 402,800 | 0.7% | |
| Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 408,335 | 0.7% | |
| Total | 33 | 33 | 67 | 100 | 100 | 0 | 61,552,749 | 100.0% | |
| Sources: The Associated Press, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections (unofficial) | view, talk, edit | ||||||||
The Democratic Party is considered to hold a majority with 51 seats because the two independents, Bernie Sanders (Vermont) and Joseph Lieberman (Connecticut), have indicated that they will caucus with the Democrats.
The rise of India/China/globalization. Include secret detention centers/Iraqi detainee prison scandals. Donald Rumsfeld resigned and was replaced by Bob Casey. Israeli-Lebanese war. Brief overview of worsening Middle-East situation. The developing Somali-Ethiopian conflict?
Falling Dollar
The U.S. economy and its currency as an instrument of world trade has suffered a series of major setbacks in recent months. Some analysts say that the Federal Reserve's September 18th dramatic rate cut to 4.75% from 5.25% may be a case of "too little, too late", or that it was excessive and dooms the dollar.
On September 20, 2007, Saudi officials declined to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time in decades. According to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for The Daily Telegraph, "it's a signal that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East."
Hans Redeker, the Currency Chief at BNP Paribas, also stated today that Saudi Arabia's move to not adjust their own interest rates in sync with the Fed's cuts is a very dangerous situation for the US dollar. Redeker points out that "Saudi Arabia has $800bn (£400bn) in their future generation fund, and the entire region has $3,500bn under management. They face an inflationary threat and do not want to import an interest rate policy set for the recessionary conditions in the United States
Kosovo
The Kosovar Assembly approved a declaration of independence on 17 February 2008. Over the following days, several countries (United States, Turkey, Albania, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Australia and others) announced their recognition, despite protests by Serbia in the UN Security Council.
The UN Security Council remains divided on the question (as of 25 February 2008). Of the five members with veto power, three (USA, UK, France) recognize the declaration of independence, and two (Russia and China) consider it illegal.
The European Union has no official position towards Kosovo's status, but has decided to deploy the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo to ensure a continuation of international civil presence in Kosovo.
Of Kosovo's immediate neighbour states (other than Serbia), Albania recognizes the declaration of independence, Macedonia announced they will likely recognize it within "a few weeks" and Montenegro stated they will wait for a decision of the European Union.
Russian Resistance
Russian President Vladimir Putin describes the recognition of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence by several major world powers as "a terrible precedent," ... that "breaks up the entire system of international relations," ... which has taken "centuries to evolve." "And undoubtedly, it may entail a whole chain of unpredictable consequences to other regions in the world" and that will come back to hit the West "in the face."
Embassy Bombing
About 1,000 protesters set fire to the embassy on Thursday in anger at Kosovo's declaration of independence, which the US and others recognised.
The UK, German, Croatian, Belgian and Turkish embassies were also attacked.
Both the Serbian president and PM have condemned the violence, which left one dead and more than 100 injured.
US embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris told AFP news agency: "Dependents are being temporarily ordered to depart Belgrade. We do not have confidence that Serbian authorities can provide security for our staff members."
Links
http://www.whitehouse.gov/results/leadership/bio_268.html
http://www.dassk.com/contents.php?id=459
